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Suspension riskPI-9 · Prohibited Items Policy

Hazardous materials, explosives, and radioactive items are prohibited

What this rule means

Etsy prohibits hazardous materials and devices, which include explosives, radioactive items, and dangerously flammable substances. Kits, instructions, patterns, and designs that let someone make these items are prohibited too. The reason is the risk of harm and the complex rules for shipping such products.

What Etsy says

Due to the potential harm caused by hazardous materials and devices, as well as complex legal and delivery regulations surrounding such materials, hazardous materials and devices are prohibited on Etsy. We also prohibit kits, instructions, patterns, and designs enabling the creation of these items.
Read Etsy's full Prohibited Items Policy

Why Etsy has this rule

Hazardous materials can hurt people who handle them, ship them, or receive them. Rules for storing and moving these products are complex and differ by place, and carriers often add their own limits. Etsy's policy states that, because of the potential harm and the legal and shipping rules around these materials, hazardous materials and devices are prohibited.

The rule goes beyond finished products. It also covers instructions, kits, and designs that let a buyer make a hazardous item at home. A package that arrives with harmless parts can still be a problem if it leads to a dangerous device.

Common mistakes

  • Selling a kit that includes chemical components that can burn or explode when mixed.
  • Listing instructions or patterns for making an explosive or incendiary device as a hobby project.
  • Selling a flammable liquid in quantities larger than ordinary consumer products.
  • Offering a radioactive item as a collectible, such as a mineral or an antique that is described as radioactive.
  • Listing fireworks or similar products and assuming they are fine because they are sold in stores near you.
  • Describing a craft supply as safe without checking its chemical contents against shipping limits.
  • Skipping safety information on a craft supply that contains a hazardous ingredient.

Examples

  • AllowedYou sell an art print of a periodic table or a laboratory scene.
  • AllowedYou sell science-themed jewelry that contains no hazardous materials.
  • AllowedYou sell craft supplies that are below regulatory limits, with clear safety information in the listing.
  • AllowedYou sell a cookbook that uses ordinary kitchen ingredients.
  • Not allowedYou sell an explosive compound or a component made to build one.
  • Not allowedYou sell instructions for making an incendiary device.
  • Not allowedYou sell a kit described as containing hazardous chemical components.
  • Not allowedYou sell a radioactive item.

How to stay compliant

  1. Delist any item classified as an explosive, radioactive material, or dangerously flammable substance.
  2. Remove any listing for kits or instructions that enable creation of hazardous devices.
  3. If you sell chemistry-adjacent craft supplies, verify they are below regulatory thresholds and add appropriate safety disclosures.

Effort: low · 15-30 minutes

If your suspension email cites this rule

Read the email and find the listing it names. Look at what the product contains and what the buyer can do with it. Include any instructions, patterns, or files that come with it. If a buyer could make something dangerous from your listing, the rule likely applies.

If the item is hazardous, or if it is a kit or instruction set for making one, remove it and look for related listings. If you sell craft supplies, check each ingredient against the limits that apply to it and add clear safety information. Carriers also have their own limits, so check those too. When you reply, describe the product plainly and say what you changed. Etsy makes the final decision, and no reply can promise a result.

Suspended over this rule?

Generate a complete, ready-to-submit Etsy appeal for this exact violation.

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Common questions

Does the rule cover instructions as well as products?

Yes. Etsy's policy says kits, instructions, patterns, and designs that enable the creation of hazardous materials and devices are also prohibited.

Can I sell craft supplies that contain chemicals?

Many craft supplies are ordinary products. If a supply contains a regulated or hazardous ingredient, check it against the limits that apply and add clear safety information. If it is above those limits, do not list it.

Is a flammable item always prohibited?

Etsy's page lists flammable items among its examples of prohibited hazardous materials, and it sets no limits on that page. Check before you list anything flammable, and ask Etsy Support if you are unsure.

Why does shipping matter for this rule?

Etsy's policy points to complex legal and shipping rules for hazardous materials. Carriers add their own limits too, and a product that breaks them can be refused or returned.

Can I sell a science kit for children?

Only if the kit does not contain hazardous components. If any part is hazardous, the kit falls under the rule. Also read the rule on children's products.

Related prohibited items policy rules